


How Does She Know

by afterandalasia



Category: Enchanted (2007)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Community: disney_kink, F/F, Gift Giving, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-02
Updated: 2011-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:57:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterandalasia/pseuds/afterandalasia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Giselle thought that she was doing all of these things on Robert's behalf, little things, just to help him and Nancy along. Eventually she comes to realise that she enjoys doing them to see Nancy's smile, to know that she is happy. But when everything that has been done was in the name of another, how is Nancy to know?</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Does She Know

**Author's Note:**

> For a wonderful anon on the Disney Kink meme. ♥

Nancy loved the ball, Robert said. He had pictures of them, in the outfits that they had hired - he had declined to let her make them - smiling and happy and radiant. He was so grateful, said that they had talked that night, that they were waiting on the engagement for a while but that he was sure it would be soon.

She loved, as well, the flowers that would occasionally appear for her. Fresh daisies, fat chrysanthemums, soft-smelling bunches of sage. Wrapped up in paper and pretty ribbons, at her home or at work. It seemed like whenever she received them, she and Robert would be up until late talking on the phone, or would go out to dinner whilst Giselle and Morgan stayed in and watched films and sang until they heard the door and ran giggling to bed.

Robert would try, of course, but he just couldn't come up with the ideas. Surprising Nancy with a picnic in the park. Letting Giselle and Morgan go out to see a film one evening so that they could have the apartment to themselves. Making her favourite dessert ("Her favourite?" "Créme brulée, of course! She has it whenever you go out!") from scratch, even though it failed spectacularly and Nancy laughed until she cried and threw her arms around Robert's neck to kiss him over and over again. Stumbling clumsily over compliments, often ones that Giselle had prompted him with, because he knew that she was beautiful because it was so obvious, so why would he need to tell her? Recording little slideshows or videos to her favourite music (he declined the suggestion of singing it himself, but suggested a little more use of the computer instead).

And he always stuttered and blushed when the time came to actually do it. Sometimes Giselle had to go and deliver the flowers or the little notes herself, and explain that they were from Robert, and see Nancy's eyes light up and her make that little laugh that she always did.

"You're such a good influence on him!" she would say, in amazement. "He never used to do things like this before!"

And Giselle would laugh, and Nancy would inhale the scent of the flowers, and smile. Nancy had taken, lately, to wearing softer clothes, more skirts and dresses, and occasionally curling her hair. It suited her, and Giselle had told Robert to say so, though he was slightly bemused.

One time she went to meet Robert after work, and he left her with his mobile phone. She'd seen him using it before, and it seemed a simple enough way to send messages. It wasn't at all hard to write out a little message of love, sign it from Robert of course, and then send it on its way. Her finger hovered over the 'send' button just for a moment longer than she really needed, wondering whether she needed to leave his name on. But of couse she did. She hit send just as Robert reappeared from talking to his secretary, smiling and loosening his tie.

"Not checking my texts, are you?" he said jokingly.

"Texts? What are texts again?" she heard herself reply, and he shook his head.

"Come on, let's head home."

It was starting to rain outside as they bundled into a taxi, went to pick Morgan up from her class, and Giselle asked her incessant questions about it all the way home. Morgan seemed to take to her judo rather better when she saw how fascinated Giselle was, though Robert had suggested that Giselle should perhaps not go to the classes herself. It wouldn't be quite her thing, he said.

Some way down the line Robert explained to her how jobs worked in this world, and it wasn't too hard at all for him to persuade Nancy that Giselle would work well in her business. Giselle took well to life with a job, enjoyed it, and enjoyed especially working with clothes and other people and Nancy. More and more often she would convey notes - "from Robert" - or flowers - "from Robert" - or suggest to Robert something that Nancy had been talking about with wistful longing in her voice. And even in between, she would bring Nancy her coffee just how she liked it, or work a little later to see that something was finished on time, or greet prospective customers just a little early and talk so brightly to them that they were always in a good mood before they even spoke to Nancy.

One day she mentioned in passing a ring that she had seen in a jewellery shop and liked. Giselle slipped out on her lunch a few days later, found the shop, and spoke to the jeweller to discover which one Nancy had been talking about. The thought of it sparkling on her finger was indeed beautiful. The jeweller was confused when she said that she would tell Robert; Robert was confused when she said so specifically what it was that Nancy had wanted. But then she reminded him that he had been planning since even before Giselle got to New York to marry Nancy, and he admitted that she was right, and the next day he checked with her that the ring was the right one, and in the right size, before giving a relieved, happy smile and thanking her for her help.

He proposed that weekend, came home jubilant that Nancy had said yes. Morgan had been delighted, Giselle had clapped and laughed and offered to make a cake for them - _that_ made Robert burst out laughing for some indefinable reason, but he said thank you all the same - and they had all stayed up late running round the house playing games and laughing like creatues gone mad. And it was all delightful.

And it wasn't until that night, when Giselle tried to sleep, that she realised she could not explain to herself why the idea of Nancy and Robert marrying made her so delirious happy, and made her want so desperately to cry.

Nancy was coy about it on Monday, not even wearing her ring, and Giselle didn't want to ask in public in case this was something else that she didn't understand. Instead she waited until the evening, knowing that Nancy often stayed after everyone else had gone, and flitted through the quiet store to Nancy's office before rapping lightly on the door and stepping in.

Nancy jumped, looking up from where she sat at her desk with her chin in one hand and the little jewellery box open in front of her. Blushing, she snapped it shut and pulled it to her chest, reaching for a smile. Giselle hesitated in the doorway, suddenly finding herself nervous.

"Is everything okay, Giselle?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Well, I mean..." the words got tangled up, and she paused for a moment. Nancy's brown eyes softened, and concern came to her features. "I was just wondering if you were all right," she finally said softly.

Nancy opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated as well. Looking down, she withdrew the box again and opened it, light catching on the pretty gemstone inside. "Robert proposed to me with this ring," she said, her voice cracking slightly. It sounded as if she was close to tears, and in a few steps Giselle had crossed to the desk, but she was cut off with: "And for a while I wondered how he knew."

Then Nancy looked up. And suddenly Giselle understood.

"It was only you that I told about this ring, Giselle. You told him, didn't you?"

"Yes," she replied. She could manage nothing more.

"And it... it was all you, wasn't it?" Nancy asked. "The flowers and gifts and everything. It only started once you came here. Robert was never the sort that could do things like that."

This time she just nodded. Nodded, trembling, as Nancy got to her feet and reached out to brush Giselle's cheek very softly, her hand warm. She wasn't smiling now, didn't have that beautiful radiance about her and that sparkle in her eyes when something sweet had caught her by surprise. She wasn't giving that sweet little laugh or that gasp of delight. Didn't have that secret little smile which no-one else knew the reason for. But her eyes were warm and welcoming, and her hair fell softly against her cheek, and somehow all of the ideas that Giselle had ever had about finding a prince were wrong. And Giselle would have given up all thoughts of Andalasia to see one more smile.

"Why did you do it?"

She could only whisper: "You deserved it."

Nancy did not say anything, her hand still cupping Giselle's cheek, her eyes searching for something. Then the hand slipped away, she leant in, and Giselle gasped slightly as lips brushed against her cheek. There should have been a sparkle and fairy dust in the air, but this was New York and things didn't always seem to count. She would have sworn that she had only closed her eyes for a moment, but then she opened them again and Nancy had stepped away, a troubled look on her face.

"I... need some time to think," she said. She snapped the jewellery case shut, like a closing jaw. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course," Giselle replied. She put on her best, bright smile, and was rewarded a thousand times over when Nancy smiled in return. "There's always tomorrow."


End file.
